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CHAPTER 38
THE BIPOLAR WORLD
INTRQDUCTION
Two superpowers emerged from the ashes of the Second World War, the United tates and the
Soviet Union. Former allies, the two were now actively hostile, but they repeated stopped short
of a full-out war. The prospect of a nuclear confrontation was too awful to conte plate. The cold
war was characterized by the following:
•
The arms race. The logic of the cold war drove both superpowers to stoc*Pile nuclear
weapons in order to match one another's destructive capabilities. The twf powers were
evenly matched in the 1960s, but by the 1980s the effort had severely strained the Soviet
economy.
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• Bipolar alliances. The cold war saw new defensive alliances, NATO in Je west and the
Warsaw Pact of the Soviet satellites. The world was divided into two c I ps, and the
"third world" nations were courted and pressured to join one or the othe . Some states,
such as France and Yugoslavia, demonstrated that it was possible to avo d such
entanglements. The People's Republic of China turned briefly to the So iet Union for
support, but broke free after 1964.
•
Aggressive saber-rattling. Although the superpowers avoided direct and full-scale war, a
number of minor conflicts sapped their energies and resources: Berlin, orea, Hungary,
Cuba, and Czechoslovakia. The United States fought a long and ultimat ly futile war in
Vietnam. The Soviet Union was likewise drawn into a civil war in Afg nistan. Both of
these campaigns failed.
•
The failure of communism. As an economic system, Soviet communisJ provided a
shabby equality for all, with few consumer goods and limited opportun~ties. In contrast,
the postwar decades saw unprecedented prosperity in the United States' Europe, and
Japan. Overall the standard of living in the capitalist societies improve dramatically,
although there were greater extremes of wealth and poverty.
•
The collapse of the Soviet Union. The breakdown of the Soviet Uni ,while a long time
coming, was swift and unexpected when it came. Between 1989 a d 1991, the Soviet
Empire completely unraveled, and the cold war ended.
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OUTLINE
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I. The formation of a bipolar world
A. The cold war in Europe
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1. Postwar Europe divided into competing political, military,
econo~ic blocs
a) Western Europe U.S. allies: parliamentary governments, capitalist economies
b) Eastern Europe dominated by Soviet Union, communist governments
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,I 2. Gennany divided east and west in 1949
a)
Soviets refused to withdraw from eastern Gennany after wo11d War II b) Allied sectors reunited 1947-1948, Berlin remained divided r' swell 3. Berlin blockade and airlift, 1948-1949
a)
Soviet closed roads, trains, tried to strangle West Berlin into Isubmission
b) Britain and United States kept city supplied with rOUlld-the-110Ck airlift
c)
After embargo against Soviet satellites, Soviets backed dow and ended blockade
4. The Berlin Wall, 1961
a)
1949-1961, flood of refugees from East to West Gennany,
~ast to West Berlin
b) Soviet solution: a wall of barbed wire through the city forti~ed the border
c) Fonner Allied nations objected but did not risk a full confliqt over the wall
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5. Nuclear anns race: terrifying proliferation of nuclear weapons b' both sides
a) NATO and Warsaw Treaty Organization amassed huge we
ons stockpiles
b) By 1960s USSR reached military parity with United States
c) By 1970 both superpowers acquired MAD, "mutually assur d destruction"
B. Confrontations in Korea and Cuba
1. The Korea War, 1951-1953 a)
Korea divided at thirty-eighth parallel in 1948; U.S. ally in outh, Soviet ally
in north
b) North Korean troops crossed the thirty-eighth parallel and aptured Seoul,
June 1950
c) U.S. and UN troops pushed back North Korean troops to C inese border
d) Chinese troops came in, pushed U.S. forces and their allies ack in the south
e) Both sides agreed to a cease-fire in July 1953, again at thi
-eighth parallel
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Western fears of an international communist conspiracy, W~iCh must be
2. Globalization of containment
a)
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contained
b) Creation of SEATO, an Asian counterpart of NATO
c)
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The "domino theory": if one country falls to communism, tthers will follow
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3. Cuba: nuclear flashpoint
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a)
Castro's revolutionary force overthrew dictator Batista in ~959
b) Castro seized foreign properties (mostly U.S.), and killed qr exiled thousands of
political opponents
c) United States cut off Cuban sugar imports, imposed expo~ embargo
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d) Castro accepted Soviet massive economic aid and arms shi ments, fueling U.S.
fears about his communist leanings
4. Bay of Pigs fiasco, April 1961
a) CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba failed
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b) Dimin~shed U.S. prestig~ in Latin America and strengthene Castro's
commltment to commumsm
c) U.S. instituted Operation Mongoose, a clandestine effort to estabilize Cuba
5. Cuban missile crisis, October 1962
a) Soviet deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, aimed at United Sates; claimed Cuban
defense
b) Kennedy blockaded Cuba, demanded removal; two tense we ks
c) Khrushchev backed down; Kennedy pledged not to invade Cfba, and U.S
missiles in Turkey would be removed
d) Global tensions begin to ebb
C. Cold war societies
1. Domestic containment
a) U.S. leaders held families to be best defense against commun sm
b) Women discouraged from working, should stay home and rai e kids
c)
Senator McCarthy led attack against suspected communists in United States
d) Increasing pressure to conform, retreat to home and family
2. Female liberation movement a reaction to postwar domesticity a) Working women unhappy with new cult of domesticity I
b) Writers Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan reflected wome's dissatisfaction
c) Some feminists used Marxist language, argued for "women's ~iberation"
3. Black nationalism in United States, Caribbean, and emerging stater of Africa
a)
Influenced by Jamaicans, singer Bob Marley, nationalist Marcrs Garvey
b)
Martin Luther King Jr. inspired by Gandhi's nonviolent meth~ds
4. The U.S. civil rights movement emerged from cold war
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a) USSR critical of United States for treatment of African-Ameri4ans
b) African-Americans organized in protest of southern segregatio*
c)
1954, U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated education waslunconstitutional
d) Rosa Parks started boycott of Montgomery buses, led by M. L. !King, 1955
5. Cold war consumerism
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a) Socialist countries could not match United States in mater al wealth, consumer
goods
b) Stark contrasts between economies of western and eastern urope
c) Marshall Plan infused western Europe with aid, increased ~tandard of living
6. The space race exemplified U.S.-Soviet competition in science fnd technology
a) Soviets gained nuclear weapons, then intercontinental balliitic missiles (ICBM)
b) Soviets launched Sputnik, first satellite, 1957
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c) Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, first man to orbit the earth 1961
d) American space program followed; John Glenn orbited, 196
e) President Kennedy established NASA; United States put m
on the moon, 1969
7. "Peaceful coexistence" begins after Stalin's death, 1953
a) Slight relaxation of censorship under Khrushchev
b) Both sides feared nuclear confrontation
c) Khrushchev visited United States in 1959, put a human face n communism
II. Challenges to superpower hegemony
A. Defiance, dissent, and intervention in Europe
1. France under de Gaulle a) Charles de Gaulle wanted Europe free from superpower domi ation
b) French government refused to ban nuclear tests in 1963, teste bomb in 1964
c) Other European states not persuaded to leave U.S. protection
2. Tito's Yugoslavia, an independent communist state a) Marshall Tito (Josip Broz) resisted Soviet control ofYugoslavi b) Stalin expelled Yugoslavia from Soviet bloc, 1948 c) Remained nonaligned throughout cold war 3. De-Stalinization following death of Stalin, 1953
a)
1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin's rule of terror
b) Millions of political prisoners released from work camps
c) Brief "thaw" in Soviet culture from 1956 to 1964, easing censor hip
4. Hungarian challenge, 1956
a) De-Stalinization led to pro-democracy movement in Hungary
b) New government announced neutrality, withdrew from Warsaw act
c) Soviet tanks crushed Hungarian uprising, 1956
5. Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia, 1968
a) Liberal movement led by Dubcek sought "socialism with a huma face"
246 b) Soviet and east European forces crushed Prague liberal co
Ism
c) Soviet Premier Brezhnev justified invasion by Doctrine of Li 'ted Sovereignty
B. The People's Republic of China
1. Origins of Communist China
a) Civil war between nationalists and communists resumed, 194
b) Outmaneuvered, the nationalists under Jiang Jieshi fled to Tai an in 1948
c) Mao Zedong proclaimed People'S Republic of China, 1949
2. Social and economic transformation of China
a) Political reorganization dominated by Communist Party, Chai
an Mao
b) Suspected nationalists were executed or sent to forced labor ca ps
c) Five-Year Plan stressed heavy industry
d) Massive land redistribution at village level
e) Collective farms with basic health and primary education
f) Emancipation of women: footbinding ended; divorce, abortion Howed
3. Fraternal cooperation between China and Soviet Union a) Both communist; shared common enemy, the United States b) Alarmed by U.S. support of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan c) Beijing accepted direction from Moscow in early 1950s d) USSR gave military-economic aid, helped seat China in UN 4. Cracks in alliance began in late 1950s a) USSR gave more economic support to noncommunist countries b) Both nations openly competed for influence in Africa and Asia c) Rift between the two nations was public by the end, 1964 C. Detente and the decline of superpower influence
1. Era of cooperation
a) Leaders of both superpowers agreed on policy of detente, late 1 60s
b) Exchanged visits and signed agreements calling for cooperation 1972, 1974
c) Concluded Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT), 1972, ag in 1979
2. Demise of detente
a) Full U.S.-China diplomatic relations in 1979 created U.S.-USS
strain
b) U.S. weapons sale to China in 1981 undermined U.S.-Soviet co peration
c)
1980 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan prompted U.S. econom c sanctions
3. U.S. defeat in Vietnam
247 a)
1950s, United States committed to support noncommunist overnment in South
Vietnam
b) U.S. involvement escalated through 1960s
c) United States and allies unable to defeat North and South V etnamese
communists
d) President Nixon pledged in 1968 to end war with Vietnam
e) U.S. troops gradually withdrew; U.S. phase of war ended in 973 f) North Vietnam continued war effort, unified the nation in 1
4. Soviet setbacks in Afghanistan
a) Afghanistan had been a nonaligned nation until 1978, pro-S
iet coup
b) PDPA's radical reforms in 1978 prompted backlash
c)
Islamic leaders objected to radical social change, led armed rtSistance
d)
1979, rebels controlled much of Afghan countryside; USSR i tervened
e) United States and other nations supported anti-PDP A rebels; truggle lasted
nine years
f)
1989 cease-fire negotiation by UN led to full Soviet withdraw I
g) Taliban forces captured Kabul and declared Afghanistan a stri t Islamic
state, 1996
5. Cold war countercultural protests in 1960s and 1970s
a) Cultural criticism of cold war as seen in film Dr. Strangelove, 964
b) European and U.S. students agitated for peace, end to arms rac , Vietnam war
c) Rock and roll music expressed student discontent
6.
Watergate scandal brought down U.S. president Nixon, fed disillus' nment
III. The end of the cold war
A. Revolutions in eastern and central Europe
1. 1980s, Ronald Reagan advocated massive military spending, oppos d "evil empire"
2. Moscow's legacies
a) After World War II, Soviets had credibility for defeating Nazis
b) Communism unable to satisfY nationalism in eastern and central
c)
~urope
Soviet-backed governments lacked support and legitimacy d) Soviet interventions in 1956 and 1968 dashed hopes of a hnman socialism
3. Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet leader 1985-1991
a)
1989, Gorbachev announced restructuring of USSR, withdrawal rom cold war
b) Satellites states informed that each was on its own, without Sovie support
248 4.
Rapid collapse of communist regimes across eastern and central urope, 1989
a)
In Poland, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa won election of 199
b) Communism overthrown in Bulgaria and Hungary
c) Czechoslovakia's "velvet revolution" ended communism in 1 90, divided into
Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993
d) Only violent revolution was in Romania; ended with death of ommunist dictator
e) East Germany opened BerHn Wall in 1989; two Germanies w re united in 1990
B. The col1apse of the Soviet Union
1. Gorbachev's reforms
a) Gorbachev hoped for economic reform within political and ec nomic system
b) Centralized economy inefficient, military spending excessive
c) Declining standard of living, food shortages, shoddy goods
2. Perestroika: "restructuring" the economy a) Tried decentralizing economy, market system, profit motive b) Alienated those in positions of power, military leaders 3. Glasnost: "openness" to public criticism, admitting past mistakes
a) Opened door to widespread criticism of party and government
b) Ethnic minorities, especially Baltic peoples, declared independ
ce from USSR
c) Russian Republic, led by Boris Yeltsin, also demanded indepen ence
4. Collapse of the Soviet Union, December 1991
a) In 1991, conservatives attempted coup; wished to restore comm nism
b) With help of loyal Red Amy units, Boris Yeltsin crushed the co p
c) Yeltsin dismantled Communist party, led market-oriented econo ic reforms
d) Regions of ethnic groups became independent; Soviet Union cea ed to exist
C. Toward an uncertain future
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1. Ideological contest of the cold war ended in 1991 after defining the
orld for fifty
years
2. NATO and Warsaw Pact provided an uneasy security; now, lack of c rtainty
3. Communism remained only in a few states in the world
249 IDENTIFICATION: PEOPLE
What is the contribution of each of the following individuals to world history? dentification
should include answers to the questions who, what, where, when, how, and wh is this person
important?
Nikita Khrushchev
Fidel Castro
John F. Kennedy
Joseph McCarthy
Martin Luther King Jr.
Charles de Gaulle
Marshal Tito
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Mikhail Gorbachev
Lech Walesa
Boris Yeltsin
State in your own words what each of the following terms means and why it is significant to a
study of world history. (Terms with an asterisk are defined in the glossary.)
Berlin blockade
Berlin Wall
Mutually assured destruction (MAD)
Korean War
Containment*
Bay of Pigs
Cuban missile crisis
Sputnik
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De-Stalinization
"Prague spring"
Detente*
Counterculture
Perestroika*
Glasnost*
STUDY QUESTIONS
1.
What factors led to the division of Gennany and Berlin at the end of Worl
2. What factors led to the Korean War and how was that conflict resolved?
3. What were some of the concerns of modern feminists? In what ways did
take inspiration from other revolutionary movements?
4.
stem feminists
How did fears of communist infiltration affect American culture in the 195 s and early
1960s?
5. What factors led to the postwar civil rights movement in the United States? How did this
movement reflect global events and concerns at the same time?
6. What technological achievements can be attributed to the rivalry of the col
7. How did France and Yugoslavia escape from the bipolar alliances of the col war?
8. In what specific ways did the Chinese Communist Party mount "a frontal at ack on Chinese
traditions" after 1949'1 What aspects of Chinese society were most dramatic llyaffected?
9. Why were the two communist giants, China and the Soviet Union, unable to sustain an
alliance?
10. Compare the American defeat in Vietnam with the Soviet defeat in Afghani an. In what
ways did each conflict reflect the limits of cold war bipolarism?
11. Why did communism fail to connect with nationalism? How did this failure ead to the
collapse of the Soviet empire?
12. Discuss the efforts of Mikhail Gorbachev to restructure the Soviet economy.
reforms fail?
251 y did these
MATCHING Match these figures with the statements that follow. A.
B.
C.
D.
E. F. John F. Kennedy
Joseph McCarthy
Charles de Gaulle
Nikita Khrushchev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Richard Nixon
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
1. _ . French president who resisted U.S. hegemony and insisted that Fr
nuclear capability. onaId Reagan
e develop its own 2. _ Leader under whom Soviet censorship eased and criticism of Stalin sm was permitted but
also under whom the two superpowers came perilously close to a n clear confrontation.
3. _. Leader whose strategy for ending the war in Vietnam was to increa e aerial bombing of North Vietnam. 4. President whose massive military spending ultimately contributed t the economic collapse ofthe Soviet Union. 5. _
U.S. senator who led attacks on suspected American communists; is name has become synonymous with cold war paranoia. 6. _~ Revolutionary leader who overthrew a dictatorship and established a communist govemment in the western hemisphere. 7. _
Soviet leader whose commitment to economic and political reform eventually led to the dissolution ofthe Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. 8. _
Dockworker, union organizer, political dissident, and the first dem craticallyelected president of Poland after the collapse of communism. 9. American civil rights leader who adopted Gandhi's strategy of no violent, passive resistance to injustice. 10. Leader of the only communist state in eastern Europe to escape d mination by the Soviet
Union.
11. American president who refused to back down over the presence f nuclear warheads in
Cuba until "the other guy blinked."
12. . President of the Russian Republic who thwarted an attempted co by hard-line
- . communists; the withdrawal of Russia under his leadership signal d the end of the Soviet
Union.
256 SEQUENCING
Place the following clusters of events in chronological order. Consider care lly how one event
leads to another, and try to detennine the internal logic of each sequence.
A.
Economic recovery of western Europe The construction of the Berlin Wall Thousands defect from East Gennany to West Gennany Victory in Europe The Marshall Plan B.
Nikita Khrushchev Joseph Stalin V. I. Lenin Boris Yeltsin Mikhail Gorbachev
C.
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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John F. Kennedy \
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D. \
United States sends military "advisers" to support anticommunist South \Vietnamese
government.
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Vietnam is divided into north and south until elections can be held.
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President Nixon begins bombing North Vietnam in hopes offorcing a nebotiated
settlement.
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Vietnam reunites under a communist government.
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North and South Vietnamese communists conduct a successful guerilla c*mpaign against
American forces.
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American troops withdraw from Vietnam.
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